The Things About Missing Her
by something-wild-cat
Summary: Nick could never get around to saying three words to Madison. "I love you" was never going to be an option; "I miss you" wouldn't be too hard... But Madison just wants him to come back. [Power Rangers Mystic Force, set post-series] One shot.


_As with much of my writing, this popped up amidst a heck ton of other work that I should have been doing instead. So, very naturally, I liked it enough that I put all other work aside for a bit. xD I'm not even sure the title makes sense, but...the random phrases one can come up with are quite interesting sometimes. :P_

 _Summary: Nick could never get around to saying three words to Madison. "I love you" was never going to be an option; "I miss you" wouldn't be too hard... But Madison just wants him to come back._

* * *

 _"Feeling the rage?"_

 _The cold, victorious pleasure of battle swept over him again, and he shoved Leanbow further into the room, fighting, fighting like hell. Power surged through him, a deep, violent shade of purple tunnelling his vision. He hadn't felt this amazing since he'd gotten the Battlizer - and even that was nothing compared to this._

 _The sun glared into his eyes, the branches of Rootcore surrounding their battleground rustling in the breeze caused by the battle._

 _The rage clouded his vision once again, though he kept fighting. Leanbow...he was so close to the edge. And they fell. They both fell._

 _And suddenly, they hit the ground together, swords still clashing. His vision tunnelled even more, and the things that he could see were becoming blurred. Time melted together, and all he could do was continue: blocking, slashing, fighting..._

 _Leanbow's sword hit the dirt, and he powered down._

 _Nick winced, but the power was too strong and he still felt great. Great, and yet there was a feeling of rage, set deep inside him. A rage that wouldn't be fulfilled until he killed someone. And who better to kill than Leanbow? This was the father who had, what would be a good term,_ abandoned _him, when he was a kid. Who was never there. Who was -_

 _"Stop!"_

 _"Don't do it!"_

 _"Nick, no!"_

Shut up, you four. I'll deal with you later.

 _"Nick, please!"_

 _"I love you, son."_

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Nick liked his dad. But even his own father's voice, alone, couldn't have broken him out of that spell, even if he had wanted to fight it.

It was Madison's voice, he had realised, screaming at him to stop. Hearing her voice along with his father's; that was the thing that had had been strong enough.

And yet he hadn't told anyone that. Not even her.

Nick rolled over onto his side, staring at his small array of possessions, as these thoughts trickled slowly and sleepily through his mind. His morpher lay next to his regular cell phone, almost glimmering, despite the shadow his backpack cast over both. He hadn't used the morpher since the final battle with the Master, but since Udonna hadn't taken it back, despite its magic being drained, he kept it with him. It reminded him of Xander, Vida, Chip...everyone. And Madison.

Especially Madison.

After a moment, he picked up the phone and dialled the number.

It rang four times before there was a click.

"Hello? _Nick_?" The incredulous voice came over the phone, and Nick almost put it down.

"Nick, it is two in the morning. What the hell are you doing? There's not any trouble, is there?"

"No, Vida." Nick's voice came out low.

There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Do you want me to get Madi?" Vida's tone was momentarily subdued, and Nick hesitated. Did he? That was the whole point of his calling, wasn't it?

Finally, he shook his head, waiting a moment longer before realising Vida couldn't actually see him. "Ah...no. No, don't wake her up."

"She's not asleep."

"Don't - don't bother. Really," came his hurried reply. "I... I didn't call to talk to her."

Vida scoffed. "I'm getting Madison."

"Please don't, V."

His tone must have been convincing enough, because Vida sighed. "Alright. Fine."

Nick let out a breath. "Thank you."

"So...what did you call about?"

He sensed the question coming, but it still caught him off guard. Finally, he just answered, "I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to check up on things. You know."

Vida clearly didn't believe him, but he was relieved when she replied, "Nick, if you're not going to talk to Madi tonight, do it tomorrow. I know you better than you think," she continued before he could say anything, and then breaking off into a yawn. "And for Toby's sake, please call earlier. We have long shifts at the Rockporium the next few days."

Nick laughed quietly, but his tone was still the sullen, flat tone that obviously wouldn't have been there if it was Madison speaking. "Okay."

"Good night, Nick."

"Night, Vida. Get some sleep."

"Whatever."

The line went dead before Nick could say anything else.

He stared at the phone in his hands for a moment. Then he set it back next to his morpher, and rolled over, away from the sight of it.

He missed Madison.

But, he decided, to tell her that he did, in fact, love her... That was something he didn't want to say out loud.

Or maybe he did. He'd decide when he called again tomorrow, he thought as his tired body forced him to close his eyes.

{~}{~}{~}

 _"You're leaving."_

 _He nodded, avoiding her gaze as he stuffed the last few belongings into his backpack. "Yeah...Going to see my adopted parents. Got a lot to tell them."_

 _Her gaze dropped, and she rubbed her arm uncomfortably. Disappointed. "So you're not coming back._

 _"I didn't say that."_

 _She tilted her head, up, to look at him again. He was still looking away from her, but this time she could tell he was purposefully avoiding looking at her. "You are coming back."_

 _He let out a small sigh, finally coming to face her. "What I'm saying is...I'd like to come back." He said the words as if he'd never said it before, as if he was nervous doing it. "If there was something, or someone to come back to."_

 _"Oh. Well...there's Xander, Vida, Chip, Toby, Phineas, Leelee. And...me. I want you to come back."_

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Vida hopped onto the sofa next to Madison, tucking her legs up beside her and taking the blanket they were sharing back.

"Hey!" the former blue ranger started to protest, but her sister just rolled her eyes and tossed her a pillow instead.

The television flickered as it switched scenes, and the half-muted sounds of the show melted into the air.

"So that was Nick," Madison assumed, burying her face into the pillow and stifling another large yawn.

"Yep," was Vida's deadpan response. "He really misses you, Madi."

Madison smiled, her face still hidden amidst the white expanse of pillow. "He didn't actually say that."

"Does he ever?"

Madison reached over and took the blanket back, dropping the pillow into Vida's waiting arms. "It's never been in his vocabulary."

Vida sighed dramatically, snuggling further into the couch. Madison reached blindly for the remote a few seconds before finally actually looking for it.

The television went dark, and so did the room.

"Night, Vida."

"Night, Madi."


End file.
